My Favorite Nightmare
by The Lady Morana
Summary: It’s just a nightmare that does these things to me, nothing more than a bad dream in the dark, but as my heart slows and my body relaxes I know the sickening truth – it’s my favorite nightmare. WARNINGS: ItaNaru, dubcon, Yaoi, graphic violence
1. Chapter 1: Three Screams

WARNING: This story contains graphic violence and men engaging in sexual situation of dubious consent with other men. But on the upside there's no swearing!

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A hand reaches out; I believe it's my own. It is reaching for a back that is receding, being swallowed up by darkness. My mouth struggles to form words that will not come, they never do.

I know this dream and yet I am still startled by the feel of his breath on the back of my neck, I always am. I don't yet turn, but I allow myself to pictures his face in my mind. Blood red rubies set in alabaster stone.

"Why do you chase my after my little brother? He's a rather low goal for the container of the nine-tailed fox."

"Because he's my friend. Because he's my brother." It's the same answer I give every night this dream occurs, I wonder what would happen if I said something different, I wonder if I could.

"No, he's my brother. He lives only for me." There should be emotion, passion, in those words but they are a cold and still as the darkness between the stars.

"Only to kill you." My words hiss out from between my teeth.

"Only for me, and you are merely a distraction." His teeth graze my skin, but never break it, some nights I wish they would.

"A distraction from what? Chasing your bloody shadow?" Now his teeth bite to break skin and my ear is left pierced and bleeding. I make a noise half way between a hiss and a growl.

"From reaching his goal. What sort of friend are you to stand in his way?" The blood from my ear runs down my neck and I feel it seep in to the black fabric of my collar. His flat tongue runs through the blood, tasting it, smearing it. I shut my eyes as his tongue probes at the bleeding wound left by his teeth.

"No answer? I'll tell you then. You are selfish and you are weak. You stand in the way of his dreams because you will never reach your own." It is at this point in the dream that I always wonder what happened to our clothes, but it never seems terribly important with his arms wrapped around me and his fingers running down my chest leaving trails of blood in their wake.

"Your dream is be Hokage, but your destiny is to die. Your own father set you to walk that path before you could even stand."

"You're the second prissy clan boy I've had to tell I don't believe in destiny or fate. I will be Hokage because that is my dream and I will bring Sasuke home because that's what a friend is for."

"They you will destroy your friend by forever keeping him from following his dream and end your village by delivering it into the hands of a devil. You live only for yourself, don't try to pretend 

otherwise. You're no better than the demon inside you, no better than an animal." It is here that I always turn and throw a punch at the pretty face I never see. His hand catches my fist and bends it till it presses against my arm. The dry sound of breaking bone and the sickening squelch tearing muscle echo with my first scream through the empty darkness. He jerks my arm roughly dislodging it from my shoulder and spins me to press it against the back of neck. The pain makes me retch and from my eyes hot tears escape.

"See nothing but a vicious animal." At this point one of my arms is still free of his vice grip and as of yet has sustained no damage. I slam it backwards with the hope of catching him in the gut, but he has a free hand as well and he catches my elbow. I see red and a silent scream rips from my body as he uses one hand to rip my joint apart.

Now that both my arms are destroyed he pushes me forwards and I cry out as instinct tries to move my arms to catch my fall. My face hits the cold hard blackness of the floor and I feel a fracture run up my bottom jaw. I open my mouth to gasp for air through the pain and both blood and shattered teeth pour to the ground.

I won't stay on the ground for long and stubbornness forces me struggling to my knees. I am able to rise for no more than a few seconds before a sharp blow dealt to the back of my head by one of his knees sends to me the floor again. This time it is my nose that takes the impact of the fall and blood cascades down my face in a brilliant waterfall.

My obstinacy requires me to try to get up again but he has other ideas. A set of stomps on the back of my knees make it impossible to force myself to rise. The first one splits the kneecap neatly half, but the second is not so cleanly preformed. It carries enough force to rip the patella clean of the ligaments and I cough blood as the feeling of it sliding down my shin takes my breath from me.

He lets me lay still on the hard coldness for a few moments to watch me writhe and struggle to breathe through hurt and blood. Then I feel a weight settle in around me as he lowers himself to his knees. He leans forward to bite the base of my neck, but such a little prick is lost in the pain overwhelming my nervous system from lower down on my body as he pushes into me without preparation or warning.

A third scream, this one unrepressed and brilliant, shatters the silence as he slams harshly into my bleeding body. It's a wonder I haven't passed out, but I suppose it's harder to pass out in a dream.

He yanks my head back by my hair and I notice that the ground as reflective properties I had failed to make note of before. In the reflection I can see my own face contorted with agony and painted with blood. In the floor I can see his face to, too far from the surface to be clear. Only those horrid eyes burn clearly and they are enough to make my heart want to stop.

When he is done he dismissively release my hair and stands. Before he disappears like his brother into the darkness he gives me a kick in the side. There is enough force to break my ribs, the only 

bones he intentionally breaks that didn't offend him first. It is the sharp pain of these innocent bones snapping that always wakes me up.

After that dream I also lie panting, sometimes in my bed alone in the night, something on the ground during a mission not five feet from my team mates, and try to slow my racing heart. I also do my best to cool the heat that flushes my body while trying vainly to ignore its humiliating source.

It's just a nightmare that does these things to me, nothing more than a bad dream in the dark, but as my heart slows and my body relaxes I know the sickening truth – it's my favorite nightmare.

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AN: Who ever heard of _studying _for their AP Biology test? Most certainly not me. This just a lovely little oneshot written because somewhere I promised to at least try to write another ItaNaru. Perhaps after all my AP tests and final exams are over I'll do something about making this a chaptered story, perhaps not though. -Morana 


	2. Chapter 2: Bloodless Control

Warning: This chapter as more man sex! And this time there is swearing too… but there is no blood!

Thanks To: crimsondeathhurts, Spectacularly Peculiar, HMMYAOI, Dead from beyond the grave, Chibi Strawberry Neko, Slacker5000, Evnissyn, and misammi for reviewing. Without you this chapter wouldn't have happened.

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Control is an idea that is not foreign to me. I control my emotions, my village controlled my actions, my father controlled my family, and my little brother will control my death. It doesn't matter who has control, I control if they keep it or not. So it is no surprise that my most feared jutsus are Genjutsu which control the minds of others. As much control exists in my life I have no control over my dreams.

My dreams are the in the control of someone else and for the first time since I became aware of myself I did not give them that control. It's almost ironic, really, because the man, boy really, who dominates my dreams is my target Jinchūriki. I am suppose to capture and, in a figurative sense, kill him, in my dreams, however, I only mange to accomplish the first objective.

_There is always mist in this dream and it covers the path so thickly that fog might be a better term for it. It is symbolic of a way lost, of my own path gone astray. I often wish I could stop walking or change my course, but I can't. This dream is centered around _him _and I can do nothing that would prevent me from reaching him. _

_I keep walking, it's taking longer than normal perhaps this is not his dream. My hope is shattered as I see him on the path. He is naked like an animal and bound like a prisoner sentence to hanging. His bindings are black and his blindfold stands in sharp contrast with his bright blonde hair. _

_I don't need to see him to describe him fully, I've had this dream often enough. I move to stand behind him and one of my delicate fingers runs down the lumps on his spine causing him to shiver._

_"Sasuke?" He asks his voice his hoarse, and my dream tells me it's from screaming. I lean forward, the mist swirling with my movement, and breathe hot on his ear._

_"Guess again." My voice is low and flat, one the few things I still control here. He shudders,_

_"You." His voice is laced with horror._

_"You know that's not very specific." I chide. Though I know precisely what he looks like I move around to view him from the front._

_"Itachi." My name slides past his lips like it's the devil's own. _

_"Very good, you're smarter then you look," I pause pretending to consider, "or act." Though I can't see his eyes I can tell by the set of his mouth that he is glaring at me. _

_I reach out my hand and with the same finger I used to trace his back I run up his covered nose and across his forehead. Once I reach his hair I let all my fingers gently rake through it, once, twice, and then I grab his hair and use it to pull his head back and expose his soft neck. _

_Lower head and place my mouth just down from his ear. I bit down, careful not to make him bleed, I hate blood, but hard enough to leave a mark. He makes an odd noise, somewhere between a moan of pleasure and protest of pain. I pulled back and released his hair._

_"You know," I said calmly, "It's not quite fair that I'm fully dressed and you've got only a few strips of cloth to hold you in place to your name."_

_"It's not really fair that I'm all tied up either! So untie me so I can kick your ass!" I sigh there it is, that annoying nasally whine he adopts when being particularly obstinate or obnoxious._

_"You know that tone is very grating, please don't use it again or I'll be forced to use your forehead protector to gag you." I shrug out of my heavy black cloak, taking special care to make an excess of noise. Next is my shirt collared with metal mesh this time I pay less attention to the noise it makes and more to not getting the thing stuck in my hair. There are many annoy and painful things in this world, getting ones hair stuck in a metal shirt ranks very high on that list. _

_It clicks softly and metallically as it falls to the ground. I am always barefoot in these dreams so I don't have my knee-high socks or my shoes to deal with. I slide my pants and small clothes off, again taking care to make extra noise. I leave my necklace and forehead protector on as well as my ring. _

_I reach out my hand to stroke his whisker marked face, letting the cold of my ring run along his hot skin. I run two fingers across the center of his blindfold feeling the contours of his face. _

_"Would you like this removed?" I don't ask out of kindness, but rather a selfish desire to see his vibrant blues eyes rage with whatever emotion passes over his mind._

_"Hmn." I chose the take his neutral response as a yes. As I rip the blindfold off his head I take special care to catch his hair and yank a few coarse blond hairs out. An aversion to blood doesn't mean I don't enjoy that look of pain in innocent face. _

_"Now we're even." I say. I can tell by the pink seeping into his tan face that his eyes are wandering further down my body then he'd like to let them. _

_"If we were even, I'd be untied." The flustered anger in his voice is laughable._

_"Why would I untie you? So you can run away?" His eyes flash indignantly, but I can tell he'd considered it. _

_"I wouldn't run!" He huffs. I lean forward so barely an inch separates us. _

_"Good, because I hate chasing." My breath ghosts over his face. He gasp slightly and I take the opportunity to run my tongue through his mouth briefly, very briefly, I have no interesting in have my tongue taken off by his little fox fangs. _

_"Bastard." He hisses and I suck his jaw hard enough to elicit a moan. _

_"And I haven't even given you a reason to think that," I pause to pull at his lip with my teeth and then draw back as he snaps at me, "yet." _

_In a swift movement of my hand I send him reeling towards the ground, but catch him right before his face hits. I would really prefer he didn't bleed, I don't want to see the symbol of my sins stain his blamelessness. _

_I bend to suck the base of his neck._

_"W-what are you going to do?" He stutters and I settle my weight on the backs of his thighs._

_"So naïve, my brother would know." He growls and I press my hands to the back of his hips. I work my hands lower and more central and if the color staining all the way down to back of his neck is any indication he gets it now. _

_I slip my ring from my ring finger and replace it on my pointer finger. Without warning I slide my pointer finger into his entrance. He gasps so hard he hiccups and whimpers as my ring slides into him. _

_I give him no time to adjust before I add a second finger and scissor. My intention is not to spare him any hurt, but rather to spare myself the sight of that red, hot, blood and the pain of the emotion so close to guilt it brings. _

_When I judge him ready enough not to bleed I remove my fingers and slam into him. This time the shock is enough to knock his breath from him, but we he regains it he is screaming. _

_In and out. Up and down. There is rhythm here, there is control in this act, and I relish in it, but I reach my hand around and find him hard I know it is a false sense of control. He may be the one tied down, but I am the one trapped. I run my hand up and down his length keeping my arm still and allowing my wrist to make the same flicking movement a farmer spreading seeds does. _

_With a sharp intake of breath that sounds like a stepped on puppy he orgasms and I barely move my hand in time to avoid it being dirtied. I trust into him a few more time before I too climax. As I do a deep moan escapes my throat and should it dare to take physical form I would strangle it. _

_I pull out and stand. I use a bare foot with black painted nails to roll him over to face me. There is tears staining his face and his are eyelids are red, but there is no blood. I reach behind me and untie my headband and let it fall to his chest._

_"You are mine." I hiss before stepping over him and continuing down the road leaving my clothes behind, this is my mind I don't need them anyway._

I awake, as always, to find Kisame's tinny iris-less eyes watching me with a knowing leer on his face.

"Good dream Itachi?" He sneers. I make the same toneless answer that my blond gave me in my dream.

"I'll take the watch." I say coldly. He just chuckles before conceding. I watch him as his breath evens out and at listen as his heart rate slows. He won't wake in the morning; he would be in my way when I fetch my target.

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AN: Again who ever heard of studying for a test? I have a College Trig exam and a Spanish 3 test today! and more homework then is ethical, but I'd much rather write about pretty boys having sex… sigh I'm so irresponsible.

AN2: So there I was wasting my time to trying and provide the world with yaoi and FF won't let me sign in! It's a conspiracy! Now I'm risking being late to school... I really am a bad student. -Morana


	3. Chapter 3: The Black Queen

WARNING: I really should stop warning you if you haven't figured out that there are men having sex with other men in this story then you are really daft. 

THANKS TO: Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, HMMYAOI, Spectacularly Peculiar, black55widow, and Chibi Strawberry Neko. This story **wouldn't **keep happening without you.

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The morning was damp with dew. It covered each blade of grass like a diamonds on lavish necklace. The first light was spilling into the clearing and making the drops of water cast rainbows of color across the forest scene. It would have seemed a perfect as a postcard if not for the corpse lying in the center.

Kisame's blue skin was pale with death and glistened with the thin sheen of moisture that covered everything else. His death had been a dirty one, a fitting end for a traitor. A single knife shinning like the finest sliver stood out of his neck like a flag as testimony of the underhanded nature of his death. The blood that clotted around the wound in his neck looked like dark blue cottage cheese. He would lay in this peaceful out of the way clearing until rain, heat, cold, bugs and animals wore his body down and he was nothing more than soil and a soiled memory.

His murderer, unlike the victim, would not be left to the elements just yet. He ran through the damp morning his dark hair flying behind him. Unlike his blue ex-partner who slumbered in that dreamless eternal sleep he ran to act on a dream with the hope of silencing it forever. It would take a full days hard run, but hopefully it would be worth it.

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Naruto collapsed hot and sweaty on to his bed and not for the first time he longed for a big comfy chair to relax in after a hard mission or difficult training session. He had no such chair so he had to be content to just flop on his lumpy bed and ignore his mess of a floor. He supposed that he should get up and bathe, but he was rather comfortable and the breeze coming through the open window was so nice…

Naruto startled awake to find the sky outside the window a deep black. The stars dance coyly as if they knew a secret Naruto didn't, but really should. Naruto shook his head, as if there went enough crazy conspiracy theories he didn't need to add plotting stars to the list. Rather than be paranoid he needed to find the source of his disturbance.

His eyes quickly scanned the room and then widened in horror at the figure leaning against his wall by the mirror. He froze, not even breathing, but there was nothing he could do about his racing heart.

"N-no." He stuttered and shaking his head, "this must be a dream."

"Do you dream of me?" His question was flat and shadow still masked the emotionless face. Naruto glared and then stuck his chin in the air.

"Who would?" He said haughtily. There was no sign of movement other then the flapping on a cardboard tab of a box filled with poorly rolled scrolls and Itachi was by the bed.

"You apparently." Naruto's fear presented itself physically in his rapid breathing.

"You bastard! I'm not going with you without a fight, and it'll be big! You won't leave this village alive." Itachi face was about as changing as a marble statue.

"I intend to leave here alive, but I don't intend take you with me." Naruto allowed confusion to briefly overwhelming his fear and it showed on his face. Itachi leaned forward and Naruto froze again.

"I simply wish to insure you know you are mine." Naruto eyes grew wide at these words.

"I don't belong to anyone!"

"You don't?" There was barely enough tone in Itachi voice to make it a question, "This village has you in a collar and leads you by a leash." He moved and out of seemingly nowhere pulled a kunai to press to Naruto throat, "and in this moment I own your life."

Naruto's breathing was shallow and he tried not to breathe hard enough to knick his neck.

"What do you want?" The question hung in the air between them for a moment like a third party.

"What do I want in your dreams?" The unexpected question set a deep red blush across Naruto's features and for a split second Itachi broke his emotionless façade long enough to raise an eyebrow and the blade disappeared up his sleeve.

"How interesting that we dream much the same dream. I wonder just how many similarities there are." Two strong hands pushed Naruto roughly to the bed and Itachi kissed him roughly. At first Naruto was too shocked to respond, but then his mind started processing.

With a hard shove he pushed Itachi off of him. It was one thing to have dreams about your best friend's psychotic mass murdering older brother, it was quite another to allow him to push you into your mattress while he kissed you.

"Bastard! I'm going to…!" Whatever Naruto was going to do was cut off by pillow covering his face. Adrenaline rushed his system has he found he couldn't breathe. Quickly using his free hand Itachi untied his headband and dropped it by Naruto's head. With his teeth his tore a strip of black clothe from his robes and used it to bind Naruto's failing wrists to the bed frame.

Finally he removed the pillow and Naruto followed his instinct and gasped automatically. Itachi took the opportunity to shove his forehead protector in to the demon container's mouth and tie it, effectively gagging him.

"Now you won't be able to cry for help." He explained in a voice so low that had it been anybody else it would have been described as a lover's whisper. He left Naruto's eyes uncovered to watch the brightness dance. Naruto thrashed around as widely has his bound wrists would allow.

"Do I need to tie you legs as well?" It wasn't a treat, just a simple question. Naruto snarled around his muffler. Itachi blinked and sat back to rip two more strips off his sleeve and two the length of hem to the waist.

He grabbed Naruto's ankle, twisted the calf to the side and brought it up to Naruto thigh and tied it there. After doing the same with the other leg he took the long strips and tied them over Naruto's shoulders and down under his armpit.

Naruto whined being tied in such a manner as it stretched his muscles that were already sore from training. Not only that but the position forced his back to arch ever so slightly and left him completely exposed.

Itachi pulled out yet another knife and cut Naruto's bulky orange and black clothes off his body. Naruto felt the coldness of the blade against his skin and waited for the sharp sting of his flesh being sliced, but it never came. His clothes were craved away as much as the bounds would allow, but Itachi never once caused him to bleed. When the last of Naruto's clothes had been removed he looked Naruto in the eyes and asked,

"Still so sure you don't belong to anyone?" Naruto's eyes narrowed in a glare and Itachi watched him seeming impassively. There had been three people in the world that would have been able to tell Naruto exactly what Itachi expression was but Shisui lay rotting in an old grave, Kisame was sprawled out on a forest floor, and Sasuke, had he been around, would have been too busy trying to kill Itachi to say much of anything.

Itachi dropped his mouth to Naruto's chest were it arched off the bed. He walked his lips down the taut skin of Naruto's chest sucking and occasionally pressing his teeth against skin creating a pinching sensation. As humiliating and uncomfortable as his situation was the warmth of Itachi mouth on his body that yearned for human contact felt desirable.

As Itachi's mouth left its wet trail lower on Naruto's stomach Naruto couldn't help but make a strangled noise behind his gag. Itachi's strong delicate hands griped Naruto's hips and ran his tongue down Naruto's disinterested member. The sudden and unfamiliar contact caused Naruto gasp sharply. As he did he inhaled Itachi's muted scent that clung to his headband and he was mildly horrified to find just how pleasant the older Uchiha brother smelled.

Naruto's thoughts were drawn sharply away from the Itachi smelled by Itachi's full mouth around his appendage. There was no remaining unaffected now, and Naruto found himself moaning around the metal plate in his mouth.

The act should have been degrading, but Naruto found he couldn't see it that way. The infamous, clan killing, demon hunting Itachi Uchiha was on his hands and knees giving Naruto a pleasure like none he'd ever experienced. To his disgusted Naruto whined when Itachi pulled away.

He sat back far enough for Naruto to see his cold face, and it that moment Naruto wondered why he never really noticed how regal Itachi looked. He was like the black queen from a chess set: powerful, unlimited, and beautiful. Naruto watched as Itachi shrugged out of his cloak and carefully removed his shirt. He couldn't see much below the other man's mid-chest, but he could feel the bed move and hear the clothes rustle. That combined with a health imagination was enough to make Naruto blush.

"Don't you find it intriguing how people in your village have treated you like a hated criminal when you have done nothing and they treated me like a saint until I gave them no other choice?" Itachi moved his hands to press against Naruto's inner thigh. With a sudden sharp movement Itachi slide a finger into Naruto and the boy gave a muffled cry.

"Why show such loyalty to people who do not return the sentiment?" Itachi ran his finger in a slow circular moment and Naruto said muffled that sound vaguely like he was calling Itachi a bastard again.

"You know," Itachi stated calmly, though other parts of his anatomy clearly showed how excited he was, as he slid a second finger in to Naruto, "the irony of you being the one to call me bastard, particularly when I know who my father was and you do not, is not lost on me." Naruto made a stifled sound at the further penetration. Itachi spread his fingers wide like a forked road.

"Loosen your muscles or you'll bleed." Itachi voice was as flat as a windless ocean. Naruto did what he was told, but some small part of his mind wondered why a monster like Itachi would be so unexpectedly gentle. Suddenly Itachi's fingers were gone and Naruto almost tensed up with the knowledge of what was to come.

What happened was not like in his dreams. Itachi entered quickly, but the quickness was more akin to way one removes a bandage only this hurt in a way an incomparable to a bandage. Bright tears sharpened Naruto's eye and air was hard to get through his blocked mouth.

As bad as it hurt, it wasn't the sort of pain Naruto wanted to stop. Itachi leaned forward and licked the tears from Naruto's face. It was an unexpectedly comforting gesture,

"I don't want my headband salty." Itachi stated flatly. Naruto found that Itachi moving in and out of his body wasn't horrid, but it put considerable strain on his awkwardly bound legs. Itachi nimble fingers moved to untie Naruto's legs.

Naruto was faced with two options: kick Itachi or wrap his legs up around the black queen's waist. He took the second as the first would likely get his legs tied back up. Hugging Itachi with his legs turned out to be a devastatingly pleasurable experience.

Dreams can only give some much feeling and both Naruto and Itachi were soon over whelmed. Even in this weakened moment, Itachi remained in control of himself. Naruto other hand thrashed widely and managed to make an excess of noise even gagged as he was.

Naruto hadn't yet caught his breath when Itachi was up dressing. He reached down and yanked his forehead protector from Naruto's mouth and after considering for a moment stuffed the damp thing in his weapons pouch. Naruto, for once in his life, watched silent and breathless.

Itachi considered his shredded cloak before be tossing it over Naruto with a dismissive flick of the wrist.

"You do belong to me." He stated calmly, cut Naruto wrists free, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

--

AN: So I got about half way through my lemon and realized Itachi was still full dressed. So I had two choices – leave it to you to figure how the hell that works or fix it, after much consideration I decided not to be lazy. Happy summer break for those of you get it! Those that don't get it like me I wish I good summer semester! -Morana

P.S. I hate how short fanficiton makes chapters look! I swear this was 5 pages in word! -Morana


	4. Chapter 4: Addiction

Many thanks involving much flowery language to Liana Uchiha for beta-ing

Thanks also to: Cassandra Incognito, Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, Liana Uchiha, HMMYAOI, black55widow, Chibi Strawberry Neko, chibisrule943, and mrk33 for the lovely reviews. 

--

Naruto rubbed his eyes and looked at his form in the mirror across the filthy room. He massaged his wrist, though they had healed before he'd even woken up. He pointedly kept his gaze on his face and not on the thing in his lap. The more he tried to ignore it, the heavier it seemed become.

Finally he could ignore it no more and stared down at the red clouds that pointed at him like accusatory fingers. He clenched the cloth with his hands. He wished that this blatant evident of what had happened didn't exist. Of course, if Naruto was getting his way with Itachi himself, D-ranked missions, and expatriation dates on milk also wouldn't exist.

Part of him wanted destroy the thing, perhaps burn it or use it to practice his wind chakra techniques on. Another part wanted to go storming up to the Hokage's office and present the incriminating fabric, but that would lead to awkward questions about its origin. Still another small, very sick part of him that he was trying to ignore wanted to lift the heavy cloak to his face to so he could smell that scent that was uniquely Itachi's.

He knew what the smell would be; it had filled his mind just the night before. It would be something indescribable. It would be like the cold smell of blood or metal that had always clung to Sasuke, but older like a fine wine and more fulfilling like the scent of a desert rain. It would smell sharp like a blade, but deceptively comforting as well, as though that knife were hidden underneath a heap of soft pillows.

It would be like… and there it was at his face. He flung the thing aside in a whirl of black and red, but not before the smell like an orchestra prefect save for a single for a violin playing a different song engulfed him. With the fresh reminder, Naruto's mind was sent reeling to the night before that he wished had been a dream.

Perhaps he could claim it had been completely rape. Perhaps if Itachi had made him bleed, made him hurt. Perhaps then he could shove the whole ordeal to the back of his mind or even bring himself to tell someone about it.

Naruto let his head fall into his bare hands; that was not the case. Itachi had been uncharacteristically considerate and Naruto knew it would be a lie to say he had not found the experience pleasurable. He 

glanced over at the thing lying on his pillow like a dark shadow of a person. As much as the idea sickened him, he almost hoped that Itachi would be back again.

--

Itachi was furious. Well, he was as furious as a man who had traded his humanity for power could be. One night; that's all it should have taken, all it had taken in the past to rid himself of those foolish, lust driven dreams. These reoccurring dreams of that energetic blond should have been no different. He had acted on impulse, not that impulse to be polite and disappear.

Itachi was not far from the village, and in fact, he was close enough that he was tempting fate to bring the ANBU down on his head, but he could not get his desire for Naruto under control. The boy was like a drug, and after one taste, Itachi wanted more.

AN: Yeah it's short, but I'm sick and have to leave town at 4 am any way so at least I updated. I'll be gone for a week, but I'll try to make a nice longer-ish update when I get back.

-Morana

AN2: Yeah, Morana is out of town, and I (Flightless Bird) am left alone with her computer…She will back in 1 to 2 weeks, she'll be the next to update. Please Review, it makes Morana happy!!

Flightless Bird 


	5. Chapter 5: A Red World

Please give a big huge thanks to my beta Liana Uchiha to whom we all owe the coherent-ness of this story.

Also thank: Dead from beyond the grave, Spectacularly Peculiar, Liana Uchiha, Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, and HmmYaoi for reviewing.

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Naruto schooled himself not to fidget. He was almost sure that everybody who looked at him knew. Knew he was being ridiculous. Tsunade was giving them a mission, not preparing to announce to everyone in the room that Naruto had been raped by Itachi and then lower her voice to the sort of scandalized whisper that is heard by everyone, and explain that Naruto had enjoyed it.

"Naruto!" She snapped suddenly. "Are you paying attention?!" Naruto tried not to look like a startled rabbit and to keep his voice normal while answering.

"No, not really. You're sending us on some boring mission, obviously below our abilities." He heard Sakura hiss his name in a tone that meant she wished she could pummel him and fully intended to later. Tsunade narrowed her eyes in what first seemed like suspicion until Naruto realized that it was just annoyance.

It was all he could do not to sigh in relief as she continued describing the job of safely escorting a wealthy merchant back to his town. To tell the truth, Naruto would have preferred a stupid genin mission like weeding or cat finding. The village might not be safe, but Naruto liked the false sense of security those walls offered. Going out in the open was like tempting fate, and he was sure he didn't want to tempt fate.

The trip to the outlying village was uneventful, so much so that with the black robe far behind Naruto began to wonder if the whole thing had just been a new, sick dream. It was late at night and Naruto sat looking into their small camp fire. The long shadows casted made figures dance through the trees and every crackling pop the fire made was enough to make Naruto jump. Across the campfire, Sai had a scroll out and was busily drawing. Sakura was asleep, and Kakashi, well, Naruto wasn't really sure where Kakashi was.

Naruto felt watched and his eyes scanned the forest. He almost missed the figured standing in the trees, almost and would have if it had not been for the glowing set of red eyes set in the shadow's face. He jumped and gasped, but Sai ignored it; Naruto had been jumpy all night. Before he could move, the eyes changed, the black bleeding together to lock Naruto's mind in another world.

The sky that moved over head was almost red almost the strange orange tint of tomato soup. The sky that clung to the horizon, however, was the color of fresh blood, and for some reason, Naruto got the feeling this color didn't please Itachi. It fact, the world had a subtle feeling of disgust that coated it like a bad aftertaste in the mouth. The ground was black; not a classy black, but a charred black like the remnants of a forest after a fire.

Naruto looked at Itachi in front of him and then down at himself. They too had been changed to match the dramatic color scheme. Naruto looked like an inverted black and white cut out, but Itachi looked like a masterpiece craved from the finest, blackest marble.

Naruto felt dread creep up his body and grab him by the throat. He'd heard about this world. He knew it had left Kakashi in a coma-like state and seriously damaged Sasuke. Naruto tightened his lips. That wasn't going to happen to him; he would overpower Itachi.

Just like last time? A voice hissed in Naruto head, and Naruto squashed the treasonous thought with a vengeance. For what seemed like an eternity, Itachi did nothing but look at Naruto, and Naruto was more than happy to glare back at him.

In this everlasting moment, Naruto found himself engaging in an inner conflict. He knew the smartest thing to do would be to stay still, since there was nothing he could do while trapped here, but he still felt he ought to do something. It was this need to take action that was the problem. Did he attack Itachi while he held so perfectly still? Or did he do something less violent?

A vision of him brushing those cold black lips flickered across his mind. The vision grew till could see himself in his mind's eye wrapped around Itachi with his hands tangled through his hair. Naruto chased the thought from his mind, and it fled reluctantly.

Naruto looked at Itachi's frozen figure and wondered if he too, were having a personal disagreement. Finally Itachi spoke in his controlled voice.

"It would be much easier for both of us if I destroyed your spirit here and now."

"You could try!" Naruto snapped defiantly. Itachi took a step forward.

"Yes I could try. I could show you things that would make you hate your village, make you hate yourself. I could cause you so much pain that you would retreat so far back in your mind that you could never be free. I could twist you into something you wouldn't recognize, and then after I did all these things, I could kill your shell of a body." As Itachi spoke he took slow measured steps towards where Naruto stood. Naruto lifted his chin defiantly.

"Then why don't you?"

"Do you want me to?" The question hung in the still air. Itachi now stood close enough for Naruto to touch. The traitor in his mind took this opportunity to wonder what temperature Itachi's skin was. He felt his definite eyes drop to the ground and the answer to Itachi's question spill past his lips before he could snatch it back.

"No." Itachi moved close till his lips nearly pressed to Naruto's face.

"Then what do you want?" Naruto locked his jaw so he could answer, "Could it be that you enjoyed the night I came to see you?" The heat of a blush spread across Naruto face and turned the blackness of his cheeks white.

"Who would have thought? Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's loudest ninja with dreams of being Hokage likes to be tied to his bed by an S-ranked missing-nin." A pair of black nails traced around Naruto left eye socket and then down across the center of Naruto's lips. Itachi changed the angle of his fingers so that the fleshly pads pressed against the dry cracked surface. He pressed for only a moment down Naruto's chin, then picked his hands back up so that the nails raked his skin as his hand crept down Naruto's neck. He paused at the hollow form at the top of Naruto's collar bone.

"I could teach your mind what it feels like to die." He whispered in a sultry tone. "Just one sharp jab and you'd learn the pain of death." To Naruto's horror, his body lifted his chin, which pressed his chest towards Itachi's threatening fingers. Itachi fingers jumped from Naruto's skin to catch the zipper on the blonde's pushed down collar. The soft sound whisked through the world as Itachi ran the zipper down, leaving Naruto's jacket fully opened.

Itachi grabbed the loose edges of the jacket, shoved them back and then crossed his arms as he pushed the bulky material back, causing Naruto to spin and trapping his arms behind him. He pressed his lips to the base Naruto's neck, where it met with his shoulder. He pulled at the skin with his teeth and Naruto moaned softly through clenched teeth.

"There is no one to hear you here. You have no reason to hold back." Itachi's hot breath swept over Naruto's skin and caused him to shudder from the base of his spin.

"You'll hear me." Naruto countered.

"Yes, but I want to hear you." He moved his mouth to the top of Naruto's jaw, just below his ear and sucked hard enough to pull another strangled moan from Naruto's body.

"I'll hear me." Naruto whispered softly. Itachi paused and slowly turned Naruto around.

"That could be a problem for you; you wouldn't want to enjoy yourself."

"I shouldn't enjoy anything you do." Naruto said stubbornly.

"Then forget it's me." Itachi kissed Naruto roughly, like a wild storm.

--

AN: So in the middle of writing this chapter it came to my attention that it had been a **very **long time since I updated, and I decided to split this chapter in half. So unless I lose my nerve, it's been known to happen, there will be smut next time! I know I succumb to letting Itachi behave horridly cliché and OOC but I couldn't help myself. Till next time, I love you for reading! -Morana


	6. Chapter 6: Dark Desire

Please thank my beta, Liana Uchiha, for her hard work.

Brownies and thanks to the reviewers: BonneNuit, MckayZielke, Spectacularly Peculiar, HmmYaoi, Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, crimsondeathhurts, TheDeviant, and black55widow.

--

Itachi's suggestion to forget just who Naruto was becoming extremely interment; it sounded like a good idea. How hard could it be to pick from the various men Naruto knew, someone who was more desirable than Itachi? It would have been easier if he'd had his pick of the girls, too, but for obvious reasons the person he envisioned had to be male.

He could try Sasuke; it might be easiest to pick Itachi's little brother, but the thought of doing something like this with the person he thought of as a brother turned Naruto's stomach. No, not Sasuke.

He could imagine it was Sai. The boy's dark hair and pale skin would make the visual image that much easier to picture. Naruto only considered Sai briefly, however; the thought of something that involved penises with that pervert was decidedly unappealing.

For a moment Naruto thought about Shikamaru, but the thought was quickly dismissed. Not only was Shikamaru too lazy to fulfill the position, but the thought of that crazy, fan-wielding woman that Naruto was convinced had a thing for Shikamaru was enough to stop that idea.

This wasn't working, and he needed someone fast. The someone had to be good looking; Naruto was briefly horrified by the thought of either Lee or Choji. They couldn't be too old or too young; the thought of Jiraiya was enough to make him blanch. Preferably someone he'd never have to see again to avoid an awkward situation.

The person he picked had to be smart; cunning really. They should be powerful; after all, he wasn't about to let just anybody overpower him. Dangerous, put in some other part of his mind, but not completely evil qualified the sane part. The list went on till, to Naruto's horror, he found he was describing Itachi, and there was no need to imagine him.

Itachi was currently providing an example of just how talented his mouth was as it moved over Naruto's body. Naruto wondered where the other man had acquired such a skill and decided to ask him if they were ever in a situation where Naruto was not facing imminent death or rape.

Itachi slid the dark material of Naruto's shirt over his head. The movement caused Naruto's arms to rise in the air and as they fell back down to his side Itachi caught one. He twisted it slightly to bring the inner wrist to him mouth. Naruto moaned softly as Itachi used his teeth to pinch and massage the smooth skin. Slowly, he walked his lips and tongue up Naruto's arm till he reached the side of the boy's elbow.

He continued to move his mouth up Naruto's arm and across the top of his shoulder. Naruto lifted his chin to expose all of his neck, but Itachi didn't continue his journey upwards. Rather, he worked 

across Naruto's collarbone to the center where the bone dipped down to the sternum. There he paused, his mouth nibbling softly.

Naruto moaned greedily, giving up on his determination to hold it back. Itachi spoke into his skin.

"Have you found someone to think of?" Naruto made an affirmative humming sound.

"Who?" Itachi asked as he moved his mouth down Naruto's sternum. Naruto arched his back forward, lust controlling his action at this point.

"You." Naruto said. Unseen by the blond, Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't that defeat the point?" He asked, his breath sweeping across Naruto's stomach, which caused Naruto to shiver.

"Not really." Naruto said breathily. "I'll just tell myself it was a very vivid dream later."

"Good luck with that." Their conversion then ceased. Itachi moved his mouth down to Naruto's soft, exposed stomach. When his lips first touched him, Naruto tensed his muscle in an attempt to not be so vulnerable, but he relaxed as Itachi firmly pressed him lips against Naruto's stomach. As Itachi moved his mouth down Naruto, he moved his lower lip as though he were talking.

When he reached the pants that were clung to Naruto's body just below his waist, Itachi lifted his face to meet Naruto's.

"You know that in this world I control every element of the physical world." Naruto blinked, unsure why that was relevant just now. "So that means the clothes that exist in this world are the ones I want." Naruto shivered with understanding as his remaining attire slipped away like water through cupped hands.

"It also means that your perception of things is not necessarily correct." Naruto was truly confused now.

"What do you mean?"

"I assume you think you are standing, correct?" Naruto looked down at Itachi. Had he chosen this moment when Naruto was locked in his head for him to go completely crazy? "Are you so sure you're right?" With a dizzying sense of vertigo, Naruto found himself lying on the charcoal ground.

Just as Naruto was readjusting to his new position, he felt a pair of hands close around his neck, though he was sure Itachi's were resting losing on Naruto's bare hips. The thumbs on the unclaimed hands pressed just hard enough for Naruto's breath to come short and his vision to swim. Much to his horror, his body didn't register this as pain, but rather as a twisted sense of pleasure. He drew his legs up to form upside-down Vs and curled his toes.

Itachi leaned back so that he was sitting between Naruto's legs. The hands around Naruto's neck released their grip, twirling and brushing the splayed fingers across Naruto lips and down the center of his neck. As the hands skated across Naruto chest, pressing hard enough to leave shadows of their warmth behind, another set encased the strong muscle of his inner thigh.

Again, they couldn't be Itachi's hands, because one of his was lazily dangling off the knee of one of his legs, and the other cradled his head as he watched, fully dressed with an impassive face.

"You sick bastard!" Naruto gasped as the phantom hands on his skin snaked higher and a nonexistence mouth nipped at his hip.

"Yes, but you seem to be enjoy it." Itachi's graceful hand leaped off his knee and gestured grandly. Before, the movement had even been complete a haze reflection of himself appeared in the air above him. Naruto could see himself writhing with pleasure. As the lower set of hands reached their destination, Itachi managed to stimulate nerves all over Naruto's body, causing him to scream and smash his head into the ground, as he threw his body back.

When his lungs regained their functioning his opened his eyes to find the haze reflection still there; only it appeared to have stopped reflecting. Naruto felt a hot blush cover his body and he tried to shut his eyes or turn his head, but to no avail. It was embarrassing enough to feel Itachi dominate his body, but watching himself felt as though he might die of mortification.

"Stop!" He cried. In betrayal of Itachi's smooth face, the world hissed with amusement, but the image disappeared.

"Yes, your right. It's time the games stopped." Itachi extended his long body over Naruto's his clothes disappearing in a cloud of ravens. The hands and mouth stopped, but Naruto's flesh was crawling.

"Don't worry, you won't bleed." Itachi comforted before sliding into the unprepared, tense Naruto. It felt as though his flesh was tearing and Naruto's scream was piercing, but Itachi was true to his word and no blood came to easy the passage. Naruto screamed till his voice was horse. Finally his body gave a convulsive spasm and he felt Itachi do the same.

"It's over." Naruto croaked, and opened his eyes, panic setting in, "Why aren't I back?"

"This world can go on for days; it's far from over. In fact, this is only the beginning."

--

AN: Ok to explain Itachi marked increase in sadistic tendencies if you look at the canon he tends to be well more evil when his got people in Tsukuyomi. Plus I had fun making him crazy. Anyway half way through writing this my courage ran away and hid under the sofa. I tried to coax it out with ice-cream, but it wasn't interested. So I poked it with a very sharp stick, it stirred but would come out. Therefore I waged all out war on it after much pain and bloodshed it surrendered and ya'll got your smut. -Morana


	7. Chapter 7: Truth In Dreams

Many, many thanks and flowers to Liana Uchiha for beta-ing for me. 

Also Thanks to: cursedpegasus, Spectacularly Peculiar, HmmYaoi, black55widow, and Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan for reviewing.

--

Naruto gasped sharply as Itachi world released him from his spell, the color in the world made his head spin. Though he was free of it, the Itachi's world clung to his mind like a shirt clings to a sweaty body in the heat of the summer. It had been days in that world, and yet when he looked at Sai, his image was exactly same as when he'd been sucked in.

This real world of colors and noises began to spin till Naruto was horridly disoriented.

"Sai…" He managed to force out, "Help me." He fell towards the fire.

"Are you trying to burn your penis off now?!" Sai's voice was the last thing that reached him before the darkness grabbed him and pulled him under.

--

Itachi wondered at his recklessness. Entering the village to get to Naruto had been fine; he was sure that Naruto was alone, and it was only supposed to be a onetime thing. This latest action was crazy. Stocking Naruto down at a camp where one highly trained ninja sat not five feet from his pray and an ex-ANBU remained unaccounted for was flirting shameless with his own demise. The worst part of it all was he knew he would go after Naruto again.

There was something about the boy, perhaps it was the innocent air that seemed to cling to him so tightly, trying to remove it was like trying to take a tattoo off with a bar of soap. Itachi felt the exhaustion wrap its unwelcome arms around his body and knew that he would dream of Naruto again that night. He couldn't help himself, he'd lost his control.

--

The darkness still sat upon him like a fat cat on his chest, but Naruto could hear voices that all swirled together, so Naruto didn't know who was speaking.

"What happened?"

"According to Sai, one moment he was just sitting there, and the next he passed out and fell towards the fire."

"Did you see anything, Sakura?"

"Sorry master; it was my turn to sleep, as well as Naruto's too. He shouldn't have been awake."

"Did anything happen on your mission?"

"We got attacked once and Naruto got cut, but he seemed fine. You know how fast he heals."

"Maybe the blade was poisoned."

"Did anyone else get cut?"

"No, he was being reckless."

"Did you check for poison?"

"At the time, no, he seemed fine, after he passed out, yes."

"And?"

"Nothing. What are we going to do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?

"We have no idea what's wrong with him. We would probably end up harming him more than we would be helping him."

"So we just wait to see if he wakes up?"

"He'll wake up."

"But we don't..."

"He'll wake up." Naruto struggled with the darkness, but the cat had turned into a tiger and slowly his awareness slipped away.

The next time Naruto was aware of anything, it was light that was attempted to wriggle under his eyelids. He opened his eyes, but quickly shut them again as the overjoyed light came pouring in. He opened them again, more slowly this time, and found himself in a drab hospital room. Slowly his other senses crawled out from where they'd been hiding. The smell of cleanliness nipped at his nose. The odd smoothness of the sheets that touched his skin where it wasn't covered by the thick gray hospital robe was the next thing his mind registered.

His mouth tasted bitter and dry, like he'd woken up from a night of sleeping with it open. Finally his hearing came back with someone's cry of,

"Tsunade, he's awake!" There was a flurry of activity around his bed. Kakashi looking like he had just happened to be around, Sakura who had called out, and Tsunade looking relieved. Naruto just looked at them and wondered if they had ever figured out what had happened to him. Silence reigned until Sakura finally broke it.

"I'm so glad you're awake. Tsunade said you'd wake up, but I thought you might be…" she paused. "That you might not wake up." Again there was silence.

"Do you know what happened to you?" Tsunade asked. Naruto froze and for a brief moment. He could feel Itachi's breath slide over him and his hands, his mouth, his… Naruto broke off the train of thought.

"No." He vaguely recalled the conversation he'd overheard. "I got cut though, so maybe that had something to do with it." She nodded, but something said she didn't really believe it.

"That's what we'll tell the Elders, if they ask. I can't imagine what else might have happen." Naruto nodded. "We all have things that we should be doing. Naruto, you will stay here until we can guarantee you're not going to black out again, and then I have another mission for your team." They filed out and left Naruto alone. Alone to wonder when Itachi would come for him next. Alone to wonder if Itachi's coming again was such a bad thing.

--

Naruto was happy to see dinner, but he wasn't so happy to see what was for dinner. As he poked at the food, he was disgusted to find it was both healthy and bland, but he ate it. After a long day of boredom, he found himself very tired when the night came.

He fell asleep with his eyes fixed on the tightly shut windows. He felt like just shutting his eyes when he suddenly bolted up like a startled earwig. The windows had been opened, allowing wind and moonlight to pour into the room. Naruto shuddered at the abnormally cool air. Hadn't the windows been closed?

"If there is one thing I like about this village," Naruto spun to find the source of the voice, but found only shadows, "it's how they keep nicely confined so I don't have to hunt you down." Suddenly one of the shadows moved forward. Naruto's eyes grew wide.

"You…" His breath came short as though Itachi was using all the air in the room, "If I scream, people will come." Itachi's shadowed face almost smirked.

"Why don't you try? I'd love to hear." The shadow of Itachi moved closer, utill he was at the foot of the bed. "But if you scream and people do come, I may not get out alive."

"And I care why?" Suddenly Itachi was beside the bed.

"Because then you would never feel this again." The shadowy lips crashed down on his own, demanding everything that Naruto was, and then suddenly the pressure was gone, "Somehow, I don't think you really want to lose that, but go ahead scream."

Naruto's mind was slow as though it had fallen in taffy and was now stuck. With his thoughts failing to respond, his body took control. No scream ripped from his body; instead he found his lips 

reaching for Itachi's. His mind pulled itself free and tried to scream for his body to stop, but he couldn't stop what he'd started.

His disobedient arms reached up to Itachi, but the man dissolved into shadows.

"Wake up Naruto, you shouldn't sleep so long." Itachi's words tangled with Sakura's voice as Naruto struggle to really wake up.

--

AN: (**KIND OF IMPORTANT**) I am so sorry this is horridly late. I meant to add smut into this chapter, but Naruto and Itachi were being uncooperative so I set it aside. Then my friends kidnapped me and I fell off a horse and broke my arm badly enough to need surgery and giant metal bars that extend from my bone stand to at least an inch above my skin. So I've been either on narcotics for pain, in the hospital for surgery, or both and now I'm very, very behind in my updates. As a result updates will be slow, not because I don't love you but because horses don't love me. - Morana


	8. Chapter 8: Corresponding Plans

Thanks to Liana Uchiha for beta-ing.

Thanks to my reviewers: Fox Loves Shinigami, ammay-chan, Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, HmmYaoi, chibisrule943, and black55widow.

--

Light spilled through the tightly closed windows as Naruto opened his eyes to see Sakura's exasperated face that held the faint tightness of worry.

"It's almost noon!" She then walked away muttering something about how Naruto wasn't sick, just lazy. Rather suddenly, it occurred to Naruto that he was about as attracted to her as he was to Sai. That was to say Rock Lee had more sex appeal than the two of them combined. It wasn't as though she was ugly or that he hated her, but more that she was just a friend rather then an object of infatuation.

He searched aimless for that healthy crush, but felt nothing but longing of a different kind. He found that his body and deep recesses of his mind desired something much darker than his bubblegum and summer day friend. Itachi was like a really bad snack food. The kind that makes a person think "Damn, that's nasty thing I have ever tasted", but after a few seconds pause, they decide that they really, really want another bite, and so an addiction to this horrible thing is formed. So it was with Itachi only, although, unlike Itachi, a nasty potato chip wasn't likely to lead to death.

Suddenly Naruto had the nearly irrepressible urge to find Itachi and rid himself of the black poison of desire that the traitor's absence caused. He managed to suppress the urge. At first, it was like trying not to breath, but slowly ignoring his need for Itachi became no more difficult than ignoring an unreachable itch.

This epiphany that he wanted and liked what Itachi did to him was both expected and unwelcome, but that didn't change the fact that it was true. He sighed and flopped back onto his pillow, ignoring the cold breakfast at his side. He wondered where Itachi was. It was highly possible that he was just outside the village. This meant that a walk in the woods might lead to the predator that Naruto desperately wanted to see. But this wasn't what Naruto wanted; it went against the core of his being, to slip away quietly. Itachi would have to come to him if he wanted him.

--

Itachi's wrist flicked in annoyance as he ran a comb through his loose, damp hair. Being reduced to bathing in rivers was a definite down side to being a missing-nin. Today his frustration wasn't due to the lackluster realities of being a wanted criminal, but instead due to the uncontrollable desire to have Naruto. His finger moved sharply as he tied most of his hair back into a loose ponytail. Despite the expressiveness of his hands, his face remained untouched by his foul mood.

Even has his hands came to rest on his lap, his mind was searching for a solution to his problem. Naruto, by no accident, kept dangerous company. If he kept trying his luck, he would end up dead 

because he could control his libido. On the flip side, he knew that staying away from Naruto would make him prone to act impulsively.

He become aware that the tightness in the set of his mouth was betraying him and he smoothed his face back out. Life had been easier when his only relationship with Naruto was capture and kill. Suddenly his hands that had been picking invisible somethings off his pants stilled. That was it. It was almost amusing how simple the solution to his problem was. He would kidnap Naruto, and if the blond struggled too hard and was killed in the process, that would solve his problem well.

--

"How are you doing?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"You tell that crazy old lady that thinks she's Hokage that if I stay here any longer, I'll go crazy." Naruto snapped.

"There is no sense bothering the Hokage with information she already knows. Your insanity isn't something new. Perhaps it is due to the fact that you lack a clear gender affiliation." Naruto paused for a moment to glare at Sai, sitting on the other side of the bed in clothes that mixed with his colorless skin to make him look like a walking corpse.

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I read in a book that when a friend is in the hospital, it is good to go to see them. It also suggested bringing flowers, but Sakura seemed quite sure that you aren't found of roses." Naruto gave Sai a flat look. One day he would get the chance to find out species Sai was, because he certainly wasn't human.

"That's good, because Tsunade said to tell you that we have a mission."

"Finally!" Naruto half leapt from the bed.

"Don't you want to know what we're doing?" Sakura asked.

"No, not really, but I'll pretend to care if it gets me out of here faster."

"We're hunting a missing-nin." Something in Sakura's voice said that she was holding something back.

"And how do we intend to find this missing-nin?" Naruto asked, and Sakura looked away.

"Easy. He's looking for us too. Well, you really. He's with Akatsuki, after all." Sai said, and Naruto froze with anticipation.

"Who is he?"

"Itachi Uchiha." Naruto couldn't help but let the word just slip past his lips.

"Perfect."

--

AN: (_**AGAIN KIND OF IMPORTANT**_) Don't worry I haven't fallen off another horse, but rather I'm going away to school next Sunday. Well this in and of its self isn't that bad for you, but the people I'm living with don't have internet. But don't panic! My parents are footing half the wireless bill and it will be installed! ….in two weeks time. So unless I super write (not likely my arm is still out of commission and I'm not even half way packed for moving) this will be the last update for 3 weeks. -Morana


	9. Chapter 9: A Completed Mission

Thanks to: lirica, Shi-Toyu, Fox Loves Shinigami, Spectacularly Peculiar, Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan, xXKuroTenshi666Xx, HmmYaoi, and black55widow, because my astronomy teacher lied: the sun isn't the center of the galaxy, reviewers are. 

--

The logic Team Kakashi based their plan to catch Itachi on was as follows: Itachi was Akatsuki, Akatsuki hunt Jinchuuriki, Naruto was Jinchuuriki. So it was simple, they just had to set up a trap to catch Itachi and use Naruto as bait. Unfortunately Itachi had a strong sense of self-preservation for a missing-nin and therefore wasn't likely to come anywhere Naruto if he thought that he was endanger.

That meant traveling far from the village and "leaving" Kakashi behind. The older ninja would be following a safe distance, but that still left plenty of room for things to go wrong. For this reason the mission was officially unauthorized by the Elders, but they hadn't really asked them to begin with. With the Elders it tended to be better to do something first and then pretend it never happened later.

Days had gone by and there was no sign of Itachi. There was no sign of anything other than the fact that if they ran out of food Sai would be the first to be eaten because he had been reading again and was therefore acting many times stranger than normal. They'd been gone for nearly a week and a half and the flimsy excuse they'd left with the village was probably stretched to its limit believability. The fact that the Elders probably already exactly what they were doing as a result of Danzo and Sai knowing didn't help matters.

Finally they decided to stay one more night before returning. In later years Sakura would wish that they had just gone home that day.

There was nothing ominous about the warm night. The stars shown lazy through the light humid air and a gentle summer breeze promised no evil. So when Itachi materialized out of the dark night like Mephostophilis stepping out of Hell Naruto thought he might have fallen asleep.

All the same out of instinct he reached his hand out to wake Sai who was sleeping lightly near him. With nothing more than a light disturbance in the smoke still rise from the dying fire Itachi was beside Naruto his cold grip preventing him from reaching Sai. This was what he had wanted, a conformation with the Itachi in the blind hope that it would make everything clear to him, but as he opened his mouth to call out to his teammates he found that actual physical contact with Itachi helped nothing.

In a quick motion Itachi had Naruto's arm twisted neatly behind his head with one hand and the other muffling Naruto's mouth.

"Let's not wake them, they look so peaceful sleeping." The words slid like fine sand in an hour glass through Itachi's lips.

"And you'll look peaceful dead, which is how you'll end up if you don't cooperate." It comparison to Itachi's smooth one Sakura's voice was glass shard. Itachi sighed softly.

"I had hoped to get through this without death threats." He murmured. Before the words had settled in the night air he struck at Sakura, the hard soul of his sandal sending her smashing into a nearby tear. The noises did not go unnoticed by Sai who was up and armed.

"I believe it's time to go." Itachi said, his voice still soft enough for him to be speaking only to Naruto. There was a poof of white smoke that was carried by the drifting breeze and Itachi and Naruto were gone.

--

"I would have expected you to put up more of fight." Itachi said dropping Naruto dismissively on the ground, completely confidant that he could catch him if he tried to run.

"Maybe I wanted you to catch me." Naruto said defiantly.

"Do you know what happens to captured Jinchuuriki? You should. Have you ever shucked corn? What happens is much like that. We tie you down, if you're still conscious, and we rip the beast's soul right out of you. Your body is nothing more than a soft husk and your soul nothing but annoying silk." Naruto glared defiantly at Itachi.

"What if you're the one who's caught?" Itachi's face never changed but he almost appeared amused.

"I assure that I'm not."

"That was a trap that we set up, you took the bait." Naruto said his voice full of false confidence.

"Even a mouse can figure out how to escape a trap." Itachi said coolly, "You may have intended to capture me, but I got you instead." Naruto jaw set tightly and he glared at Itachi to avoid looking frightened and Itachi knelt down to meet his gaze.

"No need to be afraid. I have no intention of sharing you with the Akatsuki." The back of two of Itachi's fingers started at the top of Naruto's jaw and traced down to his chin where they rotated so that the pads could press ever so slightly on Naruto bottom lip. He moved his hand to cup Naruto's face.

"Now tell me why you were so easy to catch? Why are you sitting so complacently in the face of you potential demise?" The question had been running through Naruto's mind and he found he had no answer when Itachi asked. Itachi pulled his hand away, snapping his wrist with disgust.

"I thought, hoped, that I was addicted to the challenge that getting my hands on you presented, but now I have here and I find that it makes you that much more desirable." Something told Naruto that those words should be frightening or disturbing to him.

"If you're going to try to run I suggest you do it now." It was at that moment Naruto's mind finished it's processing and had come to the conclusion that he wasn't ready to be so in lust that he was suicidal.

He spun in one last attempt to break free from the trap his body was setting for him and threw out an arm with the finger clawing for something to latch on to and pull him to safety. He could feel Itachi respond, bearing downing on him, trapping him. His hand grabbed something but instead of salvation he found only more pain as a sharp rock jammed into his palm resulting in a trail of warm red blood and the purple discoloration of blood swelling beneath a cut that can't bleed freely.

In contrast to his current situation this minor hurt had little impact on Naruto, but it froze Itachi like a man doused in cold water. The blood seemed to hold Itachi entranced and his frozen mood seemed catching as Naruto was also held perfectly still. Itachi reached out and in a surprising gentle grasp pulled Naruto's bleeding hand closer to him. The movement caused Naruto entire body to come as well.

Slowly, as though the blood were some noxious drug that he both abhorred and needed, Itachi brought Naruto's hand to his lips and pressed them softly to the open wound. The contact of Itachi's lips on the torn skin temporarily caused Naruto's lungs to stop processing oxygen; it was only when the firm damp weight of Itachi's tongue ran to short length of the wound did Naruto draw a shuddering breath.

The young ninja had thought that in invading his dream, molesting his mind, and penetrating his body this dark man had taken every intimacy from him, but he had been wrong. This act seemed to stroke his very soul.

The quietest of pure pleasures came willing from Naruto's parted lips and he knew that in that moment the world could try and yank him away from Itachi but he would fight to stay here with his life.

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AN: I've just noticed, my Naruto has the very unhealthy habit of being attracted to people he ought not to be attracted to. Now to more pressing business, you're probably thinking something like: three weeks my foot, this lady can't count! Well you're right I can't, but that's not the point. I have internet again, but I also have 2 AP classes, 2 college classes, and 2 honors-smart-people classes for school and 1 more class pending. So I'm busy, but I'm sure we all are. To top my business I got myself stung by a bee, turns out I'm allergic to bees and the medicine they give people with bee stings makes me quite ill. So the moral of the story is I should take a more normal class schedule and stop going outside as it always gets me hurt. But also **updates will be slow**.


	10. Chapter 10: The Nightmare God

**Thanks to**: KHgirl446, bloodgolore, Fox Loves Shinigami, jtwsnw20, -Nightly Halo-, MagicallyInclined, iloveme5895, BonneNuit, black55widow, lirica, TheDeviant, JadeStoneTheYounger, HmmYaoi, and xXKuroTenshi666Xx for reviewing, if it weren't for you guys I never would have finished this story.

**An apology to all my readers**: My senior year of high school was filled with unforeseen (and some foreseen but ignored) issues that can be summoned up as APs, writer block, Calculus, and an unexpected allergy to something in my backyard. Not to mention the joys of living away from home… without a car… in a city you're not so familiar with. Yeah not fun don't do it. BUT what I was trying to say before I sidetracked myself was I'm sorry to all of you who had nothing to do with my difficulties but were still denied an update because of them.

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Naruto wasn't sure if he'd ever been aware of just how sensitive inner part of his wrist was. He most certainly hadn't ever had a reason like this to notice before. Itachi moved his lips across the fragile skin, occasionally brushing it with his teeth to stir a soft sound of approval from Naruto.

Itachi was prevented from moving any further up Naruto's arm by the boy's bulky jacket. For first time in his life Naruto hated the giant orange thing. Itachi's pale hand pulled the zipper down, and when it caught he ripped the fabric carelessly. Before he could push the orange bulk aside Naruto grabbed Itachi's wrists and brought hands to his face.

In the soft star light the pale skin seemed to fluoresce. It occurred to Naruto that the hands that he held didn't seem to belong to a murderer. The long fingers were designed to grip a brush not a knife. Briefly Naruto wonder under different circumstances what Itachi would have become. Perhaps a writer or a diplomat or another peaceful career more suited to his delicate hands.

Naruto pulled the hands forwards till they covered his face. They had an unexpected soft warmth like an apple warmed by the sun. Naruto could feel Itachi retake control of his hands and he dropped his grip on the wrists. Artist's hands tangled themselves in hair the color of a spring daffodil. Naruto's head was guided forward and his lips met with Itachi's.

There was no innocence in the kiss, no shrouded desire. The pure lust that coated the contact threatened to drown Naruto but he didn't pull away, though it's terrified him. As Itachi's hands remove themselves from his hair and traced their way down his exposed chest Naruto tensed with expectation.

Without hesitation and in a motion that would have seemed almost impassive if not for the barely contained intensity of Itachi's eyes, the bright orange pants no longer served as obstacles. While Naruto now lay terribly exposed his tormentor, tempter, and god remained fully clothed.

When Naruto's over brave hand moved to correct this Itachi tensed as though expecting an attack. When Naruto didn't nothing more than awkwardly tug at his shirt the tension released itself in the form Itachi lunging forward a pressing Naruto to ground with an almost violent kiss. Itachi pulled away long enough to quickly yank off his shirt.

"Look how far you've fallen, my sinful drug." Naruto moaned and arced up as Itachi pushed down on his swelling lower lip. He leaned closer, his warm breath ghosting over Naruto's smooth tan skin and become damp on his ear.

"You're precious village will have you killed if they find now you know." Naruto moaned as Itachi's teeth nearly broke the skin on his ear and with the gutsiness he was famous for quipped,

"Then you'll have to be my nightmare god and protect me." And unexpectedly Itachi laughed. With his head thrown back and long hair brushing Naruto's muscled legs he appeared perfectly insane.

"A god addicted to his disciple." The mirth was disappearing back beneath Itachi's apathetic exterior, but it still clung to his words. He snorted softly, "You make me sound like the leader." Naruto felt himself tense at this blatant reminder of what the relationship between a member of Akatsuki and Jinchuuriki should be. Itachi felt the sudden tense and drew his long nails down Naruto's neck and across his chest.

"Relax, I've told you before: you are mine. I hardly intend to share such a prize." He leaned down to kiss Naruto again but a sudden sharp laugh broke the silence.

"You Leaf people are so pathetic it's funny." Teeth even Kisame would have been proud of glinted in the darkness.

"Funny? No I think it's rather sad." Naruto hadn't recognized the first voice but the second one was impossibly familiar. Itachi was standing now glowering at the figures strolling towards them.

"Sasuke-" Naruto spoke the name, but was cut off by a third person joining Sasuke's party.

"This is your brother? Oh Sasuke don't kill him! Let me have him! I could have so much fun with him, he's almost as pretty as you." Sasuke didn't spare this whining girl a glance.

"I thought I told you to stay with Jugo." She pouted in return

"He's muttering about kill people again. Anyone would think you don't love me the way you treat me."

"Imagine that." The shark toothed boy muttered and the girl looked ready to kill him.

"Your control over your team marks you as a truly spectacular ninja little brother." Itachi sneered.

"As does your little whore –" Sasuke cut off as Naruto clambered to his feet. "Naruto?" The emotion in his voice was unreadable, but the shark-boy seemed to feel he understood as he laughed again.

"My, my Sasuke with a tone like that anyone would think you were jealous. Leads me to wonder who are you jealous of? Your brother or the person he's fucking?"

"Suigetsu," Sasuke managed tightly, "take Karin back and make sure Jugo doesn't kill anything. I'm not interested in dealing with his guilt later." For a moment it appeared as though Suigetsu was going to argue back, but a spike in Sasuke's chakra seemed to convince him otherwise.

Naruto watched as his best friend and his deity face off, their matched bloody eyes meeting. Naruto watched Itachi's eyes warp and bleed dark blood.

"Mangekyo Sharingan." He whispered and could nothing as the brothers held perfectly still. It was a rather boring battle watch, this display of mind control. Then suddenly and unexpectedly Itachi hissed and step back shutting his bloody eyes against the pain. It was only for a moment, but Sasuke didn't hesitate.

With his sword he staggered forward. Naruto didn't think. He didn't have time to. His precious people were destroying each other. He lunged forward just as Sasuke's blade lunged forward and a well aimed knife left Itachi's hand. Caught in the middle Naruto gasped as both weapons dug into his body.

Then he was falling, seemingly past everything. He recognized the damp sewer he landed in and the glowing red eyes of the co-inhabitant of his mind.

"Damn." he whispered.

"What have you done?!" The fox howled and snarled and Naruto noticed that he wasn't bubbling past his cage. Rather he seemed to be evaporating. For a brief moment he caught a glimpse of the outside word. At the way that Sasuke's sword pierced through his body and standing damp with Naruto's bright blood from the center of the fox's seal. As horrifying as that was, the knife jutting out from his chest just above his heart was worse.

"No. No! NO!" Kyuubi roared, "I will not die like this!" And Naruto could feel the surge of power and he turned in horror to see the seal peeling back from the bars. He lunged forward but only succeeding in tearing the seal complete off.

Naruto's horrified curse was muffled by Kyuubi's triumphant cry. Naruto charka pathways burned as demon ripped itself from its human host. The pain drew Naruto out of his sewer of a mind into the real world to see the still forming fox snap at Sasuke. Through the fading link with the creature he could hear the fox's murderous thoughts through they had been reduced to the animalist fragments of, "Uchiha. Kill. Destroy."

He fell to the ground blood flowing freely from the wounds in his chest and his stomach. With no demon to call on for help he realized how weak he really was. The blood lose was making him dizzy and his vision hazy, but he could see the fox growing. A rather undignified shout accompanied by a thud behind let him know that Sasuke was at the very least mortally wounded by the escaped monster.

"Itachi." Naruto rasped, "Run." He regretted speaking almost instantly because for a brief moment Itachi had turned toward his voice, his bloody eyes leaving Kyuubi, and in the instant the fox struck. Even Naruto could hear the sickeningly wet crunch as Itachi's body smashed into a nearby tree with force enough to snap the tall pine.

The fox shook out itself body like a wet dog shaking water from its coat and Naruto was horrified by the feeling that the Uchiha brothers' deaths made the monster feel even freer then escaping Naruto.

"Goodbye tinny host." The creature ground out before bounding away, free to wreak havoc on the world once more.

Naruto pressed his hand to the wound in the chest hoping to slow the bleeding just a little so he could stay conscience long enough to reach Itachi. Fortunately it wasn't a long crawl to where the crumpled god lay with his neck bent at an impossible angle. A cough wracked Naruto's body and blood dripped from his lips and he reached out to clench Itachi's beautiful hand. He brought the still warm hand to his face and shut his eyes against the blackening of the world.

"When I die I hope I dream of you, you always were my favorite nightmare."

THE END

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AN: And with this I am done with Naruto, the whole fandom. Yup I could go on a long rant about how being dead means staying dead and how romantic confession shouldn't be so anti-climatic and how father-son talks need to talk place some place _other_ then the son's stomach to be anything but creepy and how tattooed tongues are something you get from fruit roll-ups not men with questionable morals and too much power lust, but I won't. I hope you enjoy this story. I really do love all of you who made it this far. Hugs and cookies, you've been a wonderful fandom to hang with. –Morana


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